Ubon Agenda, Khon Kaen Manifesto and MAIELIE
By A&M

This essay was first published in CHECK-IN 2021, A&M’s first annual publication. Click here to read the digital copy in full, or to purchase a copy of the limited print edition.

Anurak Khotchomphu, ‘L509 ND 48-2’ at Ubon Agenda.

Thanom Chapakdee is an art activist, critic, curator and educator. In 2018, he launched Khon Kaen Manifesto, a bi-annual art festival that aims to decentralise the contemporary art scene in Thailand, complemented by Ubon Agenda in 2020. We speak to Thanom about his interventions and plans for the two festivals in 2022.

Manifesto took place from 10 to 20 December 2020 in Khon Kaen. Earlier, you held Ubon Agenda, a sister festival in November 2020 in Ubon Ratchathani. How did you select the artists’ works in these festivals?

The intention was to organise artistic practices, activities and workshops around the Kong-Chi-Moon Rivers in Northeastern Thailand, and they had these names: Manifesto, Agenda and Summit (MAS). We believe that anyone can become an art practitioner without necessarily being an artist. The focus is not on being an artist, but participating in the space of artistic action and being an artistic activist. Therefore, the idea of “choosing” or selection does not apply. Anyone with the courage to present their ideas is welcome as long as it relates to the context of the site and the festival’s main idea. MAS is concerned with socio-political, cultural or environmental problems, and its approach is aligned with the concept of Aesthetics of Resistance and Aesthetic Revolutions.

Nipan Oranniwesna, ‘Love Letter’ at Ubon Agenda.

Could you talk about artworks shown that made a deep impression on you, perhaps for how it encapsulated the aims of the festivals, or the strength of the concepts?

There are many examples of works which I believe can raise questions. I will speak about a few works presented in Tang Jai Anukool Suksa School, an abandoned building in the centre of Ubon Ratchathani. Beginning at the school’s main gate, audiences will hear voices cheering them up and the music gets louder until it becomes recognisable. That is a sound piece by Gobpong Khanthapan.

Nipan Oranniwesna’s installation ‘Love Letter’ dealt with the massacre on 6 October 1976. An image of the sky on 24 June 2020 was painted on the classroom floor using powder paint. It is a picture that can be blown away with the wind, and the audience is invited to walk on the sky. A message is also spelt out with block letters: “THEN, ONE MORNING, THEY WERE FOUND DEAD AND HANGED. IT WAS LATER ESTABLISHED, THAT THEY WERE DONE TO DEATH BEFORE.” And at the front of the room was Dr. Puey Ungpakorn's testimony of the incident.

In another room, there was a presentation of works by a group called Humanร้าย Human Wrong, which looked at the remote exercise of power from the central government. Anurak Khotchomphu showed ‘L509 ND 48-2’, a series of aerial maps of Ubon Ratchathani during the Indochina War. It took the form of a 3D stereogram on the board at the front of the class. On top of the board hung a photo of the back of a student’s head. It presents an unusual vision, and if you look closely, you will find the word “Rat”. In this room, there is also a plastic box containing the stories of descendants of migrant workers. They are the students who face being left behind by the Thai education system.

How did Ubon Agenda and Manifesto work together to push against boundaries for change?

The main point is to challenge the mainstream art movement in Thailand. In the case of Ubon Agenda, the event venue was an abandoned private school, which is considered an area controlled by the state through the education system. Instead, we use it as an artistic action space to criticise the state, introducing the concept of The Holy Rebellion or the Pee Boon Rebels as a conceptual model for the event. At the second Khon Kaen Manifesto, we used an abandoned wooden brothel near the Democracy Monument in Khon Kaen to highlight prostitution and the failure of state mechanisms.

What is the role of these alternative art festivals in decentralising and diversifying the art world in northeast Thailand, and Thailand as a whole?

Agenda and Manifesto’s use of these abandoned buildings and their surrounding wastelands is new to the artistic movement in Thailand. The two editions of Khon Kaen Manifesto (2018 and 2020) as well as Ubon Agenda (2020) raised questions for the artists and the community at large, and caused some controversy. This means we have already created a transformative trend in the region, especially in the Northeast which is a territory lacking in attention from the state. After creating an artistic space, the most important thing is that it allows art practitioners in other provinces such as Loei, Phayao and Sakon Nakhon to join forces with communities and organise their own art spaces without relying on the state.

How did you work with your teams for each festival, and how did you solve the challenges you faced?

Manifesto is run by a team comprising Tanomsak Chaikam, Krisarat Wongworanet, Nibhon Khankaew, Manaporn Robroo and Phayungsil Pasri. Meanwhile, there is a local activist group from Ubon Ratchathani that takes care of Ubon Agenda. They include Teerapon Anmai, Narasith Vongprasert, Witayakara Sowattara, Saowanee Treerat Alexander, Ram Prasansak, Nutdanai Jitbunjong, Thunwalai Thaiprasert, amongst others.

The problems in each area are different. However, one constant is the issue of interference and monitoring from government officials, conducted through police and military surveillance. We address this by avoiding direct answers or lying to them. We also do not advertise or promote the event because we do not want government officials to disturb us, so if you want, you have to come to see the presentation or artwork for yourself. Many times, we have to conceal a work and let the audience talk and discuss it among themselves.

What were the triumphs that you celebrated?

It is just the beginning of this struggle to use art and culture as a tool for the people. In recent times, there is an increase in awareness among art practitioners and advocacy for democratic rights. We cannot celebrate any victory as political activists have been arrested, imprisoned and their freedom of expression is restricted.

How has the opening of MAIELIE, an independent art space in Khon Kaen and an offshoot of the MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai in late 2020 gained momentum for your aims?

MAIELIE is the main venue for exhibitions in Isaan, the Northeastern region in Thailand. MAS and MAIELIE are separate organisations, and the hope is that MAIELIE’s curators will show how independent art organisations are different from the state art gallery, by opening up a space with more possibilities and opportunities. The curatorial team wishes to strengthen the regional art movement through learning and exchange, and sharing an exhibition programme with MAIIAM.

How did the second iteration of Khon Kaen Manifesto (2020) mature or deviate from the first in 2018?

The main difference between the two editions of Khon Kaen Manifesto is the site and presentation concept. In 2018, the team rented an abandoned building at Mittraphap Road that housed a financial institution. The showcase aimed to point out the federal government’s failed city development policy during the Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat period after 1961. Khon Kaen Manifesto 2018 was launched on 6 October as a nod to the events of 6 October 1976. Therefore, the works presented in that iteration carried strong criticism of the politics of General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s military dictatorship.

For 2020, an old brothel, Hell Club and other buildings served as working spaces for artistic practice, with a focus on the themes of dignity and gender equality. Even though the festival only lasted 10 days, they were 10 intense days.

What drives you to challenge the status quo, and what keeps you going as an art activist?

From my observation as an art critic for over 20 years, it is clear that the state makes every effort to prevent art from developing into a real creative space. They use the monarchy as well as national and religious institutions to control the artist’s work. Therefore, there are conditions attached to an art activist’s engagement with the public. I do not want to say that the activist art process is an alternative to artistic and socio-political movements, but they are all expressions of people’s rights, freedom and democracy. As long as the country is not a democracy, the role of artistic practice is of utmost importance and a necessity.

What in your opinion has shifted in the Thai art scene in the past year?

In the past, many art practitioners had no space to discuss social conditions in their work. The state is totalitarian in its regulations and laws. Thus, many artists and art practitioners came out to join the energy of the student movement. The people’s claim to freedom and democracy in late 2019 is an important turning point. There is a conflict between modern nationalist art and neoliberal art that provoked a strong anti-nationalist approach. Young curators, who are indifferent to conservative ideas, quietly formed and expressed more progressive ideas.

The phenomena in Isaan is connected to this transformation. I think that artistic expression does not have to be in the centre in Bangkok anymore. Art practitioners can create artistic phenomena or situations all over the country, whether it is in Chiang Mai, Patani or Chiang Rai.

Changes in politics and society are fast if practitioners do not follow the situation closely. It is difficult to create works that reflect contemporary stories in Thai society. Therefore, artists from abroad may not be the reason for this transformation in art. I believe that those who work with society and politics are the people who can effect real change.

Anuwat Apimukmongkon, ‘Pink Lady and Pink Curry Puff’ at Khon Kaen Manifesto 2020.

Could you speak about a couple of artworks that have made a deep impression of you in recent times?

In her work ‘Wait for Kill’, Adisak Phupa used waste materials from traditional activities of people from Sarakham Province.

Her wooden mannequins look like women who are dressed and waiting for customers at a brothel, representing the physical and spiritual stress of the Sarakham locals who are banned from holding their own traditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Anuwat Apimukmongkon’s ‘Pink Lady and Pink Curry Puff’ looks at sex and its associated social pressures through the mediums of drawing, installation and performance. It deals not only with sex trafficking but also dehumanising discourses that people use to oppress each other.

Whose work within the Thai art scene do you admire?

I believe in the power of art and the culture of all people. If a society has no rights, it is hard to talk about aesthetics. I look to any artistic practitioner or artist who advocates for the people's democratic rights. FreeArts (ศิลปะปลดแอก), art’n in Chiang Mai, Esan Writer, Humanร้าย Human Wrong, Radsa Drum (ราษฎร์ดรัม) are some of the groups and creators I respect and believe in.

Next year, you are planning to hold festivals in Si Sa Ket and Surin in Thailand, and further geographically in Siem Reap, Cambodia. What lessons have you learnt from the editions in 2018 and 2020 that you will bring with you to the organisation of next year’s events?

Areas in South Isaan, such as Sisaket, Surin Province and Buriram are considered for next year. Managing finances is not an easy task in the current downturn. Even though we cannot get funding from the government, it is not a big deal. We will look for practitioners who are willing to collaborate and work together, just as we have done in 2018 and 2020. I am convinced that MAS art practice will be an artistic phenomenon that raises questions and concerns. No matter how difficult it is, it will happen.

This interview was translated from Thai to English by Kris Lim.

This essay was first published in CHECK-IN 2021, A&M’s first annual publication. Click here to read the digital copy in full, or to purchase a copy of the limited print edition.